The impacts of direct seeding into mulch on the energy balance of crop production system in the SE of France

In the current global context, fossil energy consumption is a concerning feature of crop production systems. Increasing knowledge about energy use in agriculture is crucial towards reduction of the unsustainable use of limited and costly energy resources and the related greenhouse gas emissions. As part of an effort to evaluate the adaptation of direct seeding into mulch (DSM) in the SE of France, the present study assessed the impacts of DSM on the energy balance as compared with conventional tillage (CT) system. The crop rotation included corn, sorghum, and durum wheat. In this study farm gate approach was employed to compute energy balance. Results showed that DSM required significantly lower energy input for all three crops, while for corn and sorghum the differences in energy output, energy gain, output/input ratio and energy intensity were not significantly different. It means that DSM for corn and sorghum could significantly reduce energy input (up to 18%) while maintaining output. Furthermore DSM decreased 42-50% the consumption of diesel and lubricants compared with CT. These results suggest that, in the term of energy balance, DSM is an interesting alternative to CT system in the SE of France. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.